Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1887-04-16
DOLLARS BY THE TON,
COUNTING THE CASH IN A UNITED
STATES SUB-TREASURY.
what Il Means TO Count a Million
Seven Miles or silver and Gold
ExucditiUus Work.

w HuN ~ NhNOuS w &ONAN a.
Seven Miles Of silver and Gold
Expeditions work.
A recent issue of The Chicago NJ
lays; fhteS very quiet young men
Working four days this week eeunting
money in the United States S(ib-Tfeasu
in the Custom House. 1t was the occasi'
of the annual revision Of Sub-Treasure
John ]. Healy's accounts, and the quic
young men were experts sent here by I'll,
Government There were about fvc
million dollars to be accounted for, and
they were, TO a penny. Has anybody
ever given the magnitude of million an
earsest thought Written out in figures,
with the dollar mark in front of it
81. .000. 000-thc amount docs not look so
very big. But, suppose that amount Is
in silver dollars. II would take the most
expert teller 1876 homs TO count it, ard
then he would require the assistance ol
two helpers to carry the coin to and fro.
There are about three million dollars in
silver In the Sub=Treasury, and TO asccr-
tain the exact aiiio6ttt by actual count
would take an expert .ovet forty days oil
ten hours work each, This length Of
time would be required were all the coin
in dollars, but as a considerable portion
ofitisin fractional silver, the time actually
required would be about sixty days.
Counting 81, ,000-''bag and tag aS
the technical expression goes-is done b.
an expert tellerin eight minutes by scrap
ing So at time into his hand until h
has made a stack of $50. In case ofhali
dollars, which, like quarters, are stacked
in $40 piles, the operation consumcs
eighteen minutes for 81 900. To the un
initiated the counting is bewilderine
proceeding. Two men sit bent over
smooth oak table, and bag of 81 900 is
empticd between them by one of the
helpers. Their hands rush into the pile,
forming it into narrow silver or golden
bands, as the case may be, from the cen
tire toward its teller, and, two at time,
the pieces arc raked into the hand. The
precious chiuk, chink, chink is SO over
whclmingly beautiful as to make an ordi
nary mortal spcechless with suspense.
There is not word spoken besides the
whispered directions of the supervisors to
the helpers. But then actual count of
silver is made only when the balance
scales on which each bag is weighed in
dicate variance in the weight of fifty
nine pound5 for 1000 silver dollars, and
fifty FIVE pounds for 81, 900 in fractional
silver. The silver and gold in the Chicago
Sub Treasury, piled up piece by piece,
would make roll of 3S, ,044 feet, or more
than seven miles in length. The paper
money and other securities, were they all
of the denomination of s., would only
make a pyramid of SO inches, or 5-1e
feet in height. Still, as there would be
81, ,055, 45S in such pyramid, one might
be satisfied with the smaller pile. Inas-
much as there are stacks of $40, 900,
s., 900, $1,000 and $500 bills, not to
speak of the larger-sized certificates, enc
could carry these millions of paper money
away in a trunk of ordinary size, while
the silver and gold would take up the
carrying capacity of twelve railroad
freight cars bearing ten tons each.
The coin, as it is received in the Sub
Treasury, is placed in bags containing
81, 600. and coin received in the routine
Of business is similarly packed. The
tellers count one bag in which new and
worn coins are mixed in a ratio CORE
spending with the occurrence ofsuch coin
in practical business life. The weight
will be about fifty nine pounds, a little
more ora little less. This bag, with the
money counted. is placed on one side Of
-the balance scales and the other bags are
placed against it one by one. The CON
tents of any bag not coming up to the
standard have TO be counted. In almost
every instance il turns out that the lighter
weight is caused by wear and tear. The
paper money, of course, has to be counted.
It is done at big table all covered with
money. Here the currency is first assort-
ed, the denominations being chiefly from
81 to 500. Bills for larger amounts are
rare, $40, 900 being the highest denomina-
tion Of any of Uncle Sam's evidences of
Indebtedness. The bills must be assorted
and piled together according to their
class. Ones and twos may 60 together,
fives, tens and twenties, and fifties and
hundreds. National bank notes, green
backs and gold and silver certificates
must be kept separate. There are so
many kinds Of denominations of money
that the teller, in asserting it, covers the
whole table.
lnasmuch as the financial policy of the
Government is to withdraw 81 ard So
bills from circulation. the S. bill is the
most frequent, and forms the bulk of the
tellers' work. There are alwaye 100 bills
in one package, no matter what the dc
nomination may be, and 400 new, crisp
bills, piled on top of each other, will
make a snug little package of one inch
in height. Thus, in $40, ,000in bills a
man could easily carry $40, 600 in pock-
ctbook of the requisite dimensions for
bank notes. Forty packages of 100 bills
arc formed into a bundle and strapped
and sealed for transportation. New bank
notes, direct from the Treasury Depart
ment, are not only consecutively num-
bered but automatically counted by the
same machine that numbers them. Still,
the accountants who handle these delight
full slips of paper arc bound to count
them by hand. and as they finger the
crisp leaves they ascertain by the touch
Of the paper whether counterfeit has
sncakcd in. The bank notes are all Of
the same size, no matter whether Uncle